Ozzie Guillen: Latino ballplayers at a disadvantage.

[Auggie]

AP / August 1, 2010

CHICAGO -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen thinks Asian players are given privileges in the United States that Latinos are not afforded.

In his latest rant, the outspoken Guillen also said he's the "only one" in baseball teaching young players from Latin America to stay away from performance-enhancing drugs and that Major League Baseball doesn't care about that. He said MLB only cares about how often he argues with umpires and what he says to the media.

Guillen said it's unfair that Japanese players are assigned translators when they come to the U.S. to play pro ball, but Latinos are not.

"Very bad. I say, why do we have Japanese interpreters and we don't have a Spanish one. I always say that. Why do they have that privilege and we don't?" Guillen said Sunday before Chicago played the Oakland Athletics. "Don't take this wrong, but they take advantage of us. We bring a Japanese player and they are very good and they bring all these privileges to them. We bring a Dominican kid ... go to the minor leagues, good luck. Good luck. And it's always going to be like that. It's never going to change. But that's the way it is."

MORE: http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5428431

[RockaFowler]

1. There is a difference, though

Most Dominican players are brought in at a very young age and they work their way up in the system. Most Japanese players have been playing for years in Japan and are much older once brought to this country. I think it's more a matter of age than anything.

[hughee99]

3. Age and money...

When you spend millions on a major-league-ready player, and no one else on the team speaks the language, there's much more of an incentive to provide a translator than drafting a player who starts in single-A ball making low money on a team with other Spanish speakers.

[brendan120678]

2. As to the translator bit, it's probably because...

there are only one or two Japanese (or Korean, etc...) players tops per team, while there may be up to a dozen or more Latino players per team. There will certainly be some Latino players who are bilingual, who can help those who cannot speak English as easily. With the Japanese players, they may need a little more assistance.

[KamaAina]

4. Why pick on the Japanese?

I went to a Class A ball game a couple of weeks ago. San Jose Giants vs. High Desert Mavericks (Adelanto, CA; Mariners affiliate). After an inning or so, I noticed that the vast majority of players, on both teams, were Latino.

Then it hit me. These days, a lot of Anglo players play college ball. Then when they get drafted, they get sent right to AA ball or higher, leaving the Latinos to slog through the low minors.

So why isn't Ozzie agitating the NCAA to give more baseball scholarships to Latinos?

[PRETZEL]

5. Ozzie has a point,

he's just about 40 years late in saying it.

It's the Asian players who are now the minority trying to break into the ranks of MLB. Baseball has had Latino players on their rosters and in their farm systems for decades.

Now it's an issue?

Yeah, when the first wave of Latino players came along, clubs should have done this as it would have made great strides in their adjusting to major league baseball and life in America. Now, Latino players are as prevalent as American players.

[joeybee12]

6. The point is on the top of his head.....

I hear he's sort of backtracked now.

[Onceuponalife]

7. STFU Ozzie

Biggest douche in the dugout...